Hello all! Happy New Year, and thanks for coming back – after three months I've just finished collecting my sponsorship in for my Singaroundiceland cycle tour (£3933, plus another few hundred in Gift Aid!), but now it's about time I told you a bit more about the place, and set a few myths to rest. [...]
Read all of Dan's Singaround Iceland tour – a few myths about Iceland »
Hello all! Yes, I'm back.. and yes, I finished! 3000km, 3000 photos and £3000 raised (and counting..) but the story isn't over yet. Collecting money is the Devil's own job, hence my silence on this page since my return! To keep you amused, here's an article I wrote for the Reykjavik Grapevine (published online two [...]
Read all of Dan's Singaroundiceland cycle tour – finished but not over! »
I'd been cycling in Brittany in the past, perhaps eight or nine times. My friend Mick Lehane had only been there once and twisted my arm for a late autumn tour as he hadn't been touring this year, so the Cork-Roscoff ferry was booked and off we went. The wonderful view of Cobh and its [...]
Read all of Brittany, Breizh, Bretagne, An Bhriotáin, whatever! Roscoff, Quimper, Brest, Roscoff »
Loches is a small town in the chateau region of France. We know (or knew) it quite well from family camping holidays in the 1990s. It's not always a good idea to return to places from one's past but we did for a week this autumn with our bikes – Sandra and me, that is. [...]
Read all of France: cycling around Loches »
A few weeks ago we booked a bargain break to Guernsey. We had intended to go in the middle of September but as prices fell significantly on October 1st that was the day we booked to go. And what a great decision that turned out to be! Mid September was stormy but on October 1st [...]
Read all of Glorious in Guernsey! »
One more block The engine talks Whispers 'Home at last" Whispers "Home at last" Tom Waits – "Diamonds on My Windshield" Home at last. We have just finished a three day ride on Lady CoMo from the cottage to Ottawa and are shivering and exhausted. However, we are still talking to each other, and the [...]
Read all of Home At Last – Kinmount to Ottawa »
Time for another rest stop and a sarnie break – here's my latest update on progress round Iceland, musings on life, geology and everything Icelandic – and maybe a paragraph or two about cycling, singing or both! Coming to you LIVE from Akureyri, cultural hotspot and capital of the north, and home to some truly [...]
Read all of Dan's Sing Around Iceland cycle tour – Halfway through the Tour »
Well, Lands End to John O Groats, that Iconic cycle route.
Read all of Manxcat does Lands End to John O Groats! »
Hello all! Here's the first proper account of my cycle trip round Iceland, after a little over one week's cycling round Snaefellsnes, some unseasonal and untypical good weather, and some hardcore offroading! Hæ to all Icelandic viewers, and Hello to all you good folks at home! The Finest Workhorse Rachel* – plus luggage and flag [...]
Read all of Dan's Sing Around Iceland cycle tour – first leg! »
A year ago I got on Brown Bike, fell off the other side, and broke my hip. Since then BB has been doing sterling service ferrying me to the hospital, doctors, shopping, meetings and the usual mundane activities, plus a few fun rides. But he's a tourer at heart and we both needed a holiday [...]
Read all of Tour to Skipton and Back »
Singing around Iceland ... OK, the gloves are on (almost), the promises and bold pledges made, the flight tickets, travel money and insurance bought... now all I have to do is actually do it! Greetings from Iceland! – a three-hour flight and a world away from where I was a week ago. Currently 00:24 and [...]
Read all of Dan's Sing around Iceland cycle tour – let's build a bike! »
The top of Tennyson Down, Isle of Wight A cycling trip we'd looked forward to since February came around last weekend, with my cousin Sally and her husband Jimmy who live in Hampshire. The plan was to cycle from their house and stay two nights in B&Bs but it was only a couple of weeks [...]
Read all of A cycle ride on the Isle of Wight »
Hello all! This is Daniel Hutton (who joined CycleSeven's Yorkshire Dales 100m ride on Saturday 23 July), and my account of my solo tour round Iceland during August and September 2011 – fundraising for Carers' Resource in Yorkshire and Ljósið in Iceland, and getting accommodation where possible by 'singing for my supper' en route! – [...]
Read all of Dan's Sing Around Iceland cycle tour »
I'm off on Sunday the 17th of July on a 1,000mile jaunt "oop north and back". This wonderful CycleSeven team have organised a long ride into the Yorkshire Dales National Park and not only have I agreed to ride with them, I've decided to ride there and back too. I needed a good excuse for [...]
Read all of Cycling from Cornwall to the Yorkshire Dales – and back »
Another tour. This time to the Lake District. Why the Lake District? Well, other than its close location to my home, I have been reading up recently all about the life and times of Beatrix Potter, and I wanted to seek out where she lived and where the National Trust was born. I had of [...]
Read all of Fairy Steps and Beatrix Potter in the Lakes »
The 16th of July is fast approaching, the day I leave to ride north. First stop is Bridgwater (88miles), then Yarkhill (near Ledbury) (92miles), then Wrexham – (82miles). (I'm exhausted just talking about it!) Then it's a short one to south Manchester (48miles) and a well earned day off! I will arrive at Skipton after [...]
Read all of Concrete Block time again! »
We've had several enjoyable short trips to France in the last few years with me cycling and Dennis accompanying me on a 49cc scooter. However whenever we've tried to go for a fortnight or more something has gone badly wrong. The year before last Dennis' ancient Honda 90 gave up the ghost and had to [...]
Read all of A leisurely cycle round the Loire »
A two-week tour. I've not done a tour of this length since I was a teenager. Cool morning A tour of the Danube with a couple of American strangers that I had met on the Crazyguyonabike website. The plan was to link up with them on day 2 of my ride as I would be [...]
Read all of A two week tour of the Danube »
Read all of Cycling Holland: light, wind, water »
Friedel Grant interviews world cyclist Alvaro Neil. "Inspirational" tends towards cliché nowadays but this does seem the real thing. Her video is mostly audio so downloads quickly. Well done Friedel, and Alvaro of course. I really enjoyed it.
Read all of Cyclist Alvaro Neil: "The world is beautiful" »
Some help, perhaps, in response to: I need to address the luggage thing. Anyone fancy putting a 'What you should bring on a cycle tour post' please. It depends on length of tour, whether abroad or not, and camping, but here is what we are taking to Holland on our forthcoming 2-week cycle tour (camping):
Read all of Cycle touring kit list »
I love camping, I always have. As a very small child I used to make tents from old sheets and broom handles and when an older cousin gave me his old 'pup' tent I was in seventh heaven. Camping with the Guides soon followed, my parents were slightly hurt that I never wanted to come [...]
Read all of Happy Campers! »
The Way of the Roses, then back via Leyburn in Herriot Country. Tina and I set off in the still of morning, and as luck would have it, a runner was panting towards us and so took our first photograph of the trip. Tina and I at Groudle Glen enroute to the ferry
Read all of Manxcat and Tina, cycle East… and then West! »
The Way of the Roses. I like to plan my own rides and where I cycle having already ridden several Sustrans routes since I began cycling in 2007. Tina knew someone on the island who had ridden the new Sustrans route – Way of the Roses and she wanted to do this ride. Well, why [...]
Read all of Two girls plan an Adventure… »
The Yorkshire Wolds Cycle Route is a loop of more than 140 miles using mostly NCN-marked roads. As far as I am aware there isn't an official starting place, but for no other reason than my own convenience I see Beverley – the most significant point closest to my home – as the beginning of [...]
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Cycle touring in Denmark, 2010 (Germany across the water) It's already nearly one third of the way from the winter solstice to the summer solstice and Mrs Taylor reminded me that we need to get on and plan our cycling tour of Holland in May. She's the one who'll decide which places we visit, so [...]
Read all of Cycling plans for 2011 »
As anyone who has read my earlier post will know, I am a great admirer of this remarkable woman. I was therefore very pleased to discover that a biography has just been published in her native New Zealand.
Read all of 'Louise Sutherland, Spinning the Globe' »
On the way to Timoleague In May-June we did a tour of the Emerald Isle. I have copied below the text of our trip report, which was originally published on Mary's web site in September. Photos can be viewed here. (There are a few dropped links, but with patience you can view them all). Roscarbery [...]
Read all of Ireland 2010 »
1 – Zeebrugge to Ghent After a few days of cycling along a short stretch of the Canal du Midi last Easter, Mrs Bailey was surprisingly keen to take a short bicycle tour of Belgium or Holland this summer. I have to confess to being out of my comfort zone when I looked at the [...]
Read all of A short cycling tour of Belgium (Ghent, Ypres, Bruges) »
1 – Rotterdam to Hoorn Early September is a good time of year for a short cycle tour in Northern Europe. The evenings are still fairly light, the days not too hot, and always the chance of fine weather at the tail-end of summer. The Continental holiday rush is also over, so accommodation is cheaper [...]
Read all of A cycling trip to Holland: the land of the bicycle »
Holland cycle tour route plan Mrs Taylor has organised this one single-handedly. She's been on some Dutch bike route planning website or another and planned the following for us in September:
Read all of Holland cycle tour plan »
The CTC New Forest family camping week takes place in the last week of July. I've often meant to pay it a visit but had never previously got round to it. This year, I got organised for once, and booked myself in for the Wednesday night. As I was only going for one night it [...]
Read all of Ultra lightweight camping in the New Forest »
Louise Sutherland was a nurse from New Zealand who was working in London when she set off cycling around the world. She bought a bike in a church jumble sale in Soho for £2.10s and a 'grateful patient' in the hospital where she was nursing made her a small trailer 'to trundle merrily behind it.' [...]
Read all of Louise Sutherland – around the world before I was born »
Well, this I suppose is my very first BIG tour totally alone. I thought of this ride earlier in the year, when I was planning my summer Audax rides, I am on a mission you see, to improve on what I cycled last year (4x 100km Audax rides included in 5,000 miles of cycling over [...]
Read all of ManxCat goes Forth… C2C from Liverpool to Lowestoft anyway… »
A year ago, July 11th 2009, cyclist Ann Wilson rode just 11 miles on the day she arrived in Calais from England to begin "an open-ended world tour in an easterly direction." 8,042 miles later, still cycling east, she's in North Dakota in the USA having ridden through Europe, Turkey, Iran, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, [...]
Read all of Ann Wilson: solo world cyclist »
The cafe stop has long been an essential feature of cycling life but there is also a long tradition of carrying a stove to brew your own. In Scotland it is known as 'drumming up' and some die hards even forego the stove and 'drum up' on an open fire. Frank Patterson depicts the fun [...]
Read all of Cycling and Stoving »
I never venture out for more than half a day without taking a stove with me – I like to be very sure of my tea supply! On a short tour its no problem to take sufficient gas to last the trip but my recent longer visit to France and Spain created something of a [...]
Read all of Markhill / Edelrid Gas Adaptor »
I suffer badly from seasickness and couldn't face the thought of the extra night on board the Bilbao ferry so I chose to start from Santander rather than take the shorter route from Bilbao. As it turned out the Bay of Biscay was like a millpond and it was a very pleasant crossing. However a [...]
Read all of Santander to Medoc »
In my last post I extolled the merits of getting your nearest and dearest onto 2 wheels, albeit with an engine, to enjoy cycle touring together. This post unfortunately describes a major pitfall – in both the literal and metaphorical sense!
Read all of Cycle Touring with a Non Cyclist Part 2 »
Wired up as in: cycle touring with bicycle computer, laptop computer, satellite communicator, GPS receiver, iPhone, satellite phone, mobile broadband USB stick, digital camera, video camera, blogging website, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Skype, cycling forum membership, etc, which altogether defeat the object of going away for a while on a bicycle, unless the object is an [...]
Read all of All wired up for cycle touring »
We've now toured Denmark twice on our bicycles: an Esbjerg-Copenhagen loop of 450 miles, and recently an islands loop, again from Esbjerg, of 520 miles. Our next loop up to the North of the Jutland Peninsula will probably be in the late Spring of 2011. Jutland is 70% of Denmark's land mass and is reputedly [...]
Read all of Fine cycle touring: cycling round Denmark »
Compared to France or Ireland, Denmark isn't so easily accessible if you want to take your bicycle. It's an eighteen hour overnight trip to Esbjerg by ferry, leaving your car at the port of Harwich, and costs about £450 including breakfast on the boat and long stay parking. It's worth every penny. Denmark offers what [...]
Read all of A Spring tour of Denmark »
Its a problem faced by many couples. One partner loves cycling but the other just can't see the attraction, they abandoned the bike the moment they were old enough to have a driving license and they've never looked back. Sheds and garages throughout the land hold unused bicycles bought in an attempt to persuade a [...]
Read all of Cycle Touring with a Non Cyclist »
Loading a couple of touring bicycles on to a car rack isn't a matter of throwing them on and holding them down with a few bungee cords. We'll be driving to Harwich from Manchester in a few days with the bikes on the car – a five-hour drive with a lot of bouncing around – [...]
Read all of Loading bicycles on a car rack »
Thousands of people watched on TV as Joanna Lumley made her way to the source of the Nile accompanied by a camera crew and several guides. She travelled in a convoy of 4x4s, cruise ships, 1st class trains and the odd plane. But how many people know that in the mid 1980s a British woman [...]
Read all of Nile Journey – by bicycle! »
Last week, during a family holiday, I enjoyed a few days cycling along the Canal du Midi, or, more accurately, cycling along a stretch of the Canal du Midi near Carcassonne in the south of France. The canal's full length is 240km from Tolouse to Agde (or Sète – it depends which guidebook you believe). [...]
Read all of Cycling along the Canal du Midi »
Denmark tour map from Google Earth The route for our forthcoming cycle tour of Denmark is now complete. Last year, we arrived at the port of Esbjerg from Harwich with no accommodation booked nor a detailed route plan. There was always room on the Danish campsites as they tend to have a small area set [...]
Read all of Denmark cycle tour plan »
Midnight on 31st March 2010 marks yet another attempt on the record for cycling round the world, or circumnavigation to use the fancy word for it. This time it's Briton Alan Bate (left), a professional racing cyclist who's aiming for a time of just 99 days. The Guinness record of 195 days is held by [...]
Read all of Round the world cycling record »
The following setup is for using a handheld GPS unit as an aid to navigation on a multi-day cycle tour in Europe. There are different ways to navigate, and they differ fundamentally. Some are active, by which the GPS is 'thinking' as you travel, and others are passive, by which the GPS is only presenting [...]
Read all of Garmin eTrex HCx cycle touring setup »
Further to a recent post titled creating a cycle route on Google Earth I'm now well into planning this May's cycle tour of Denmark. It takes a couple of hours or so to draw a whole day's path, then a couple of minutes to convert it to a .gpx track. The route so far: Esbjerg [...]
Read all of Route planning in Google Earth »
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